The video with 3 billion views that first hit this milestone was "Despacito" by Luis Fonsi featuring Daddy Yankee**, achieving it in August 2017, making it the first YouTube video ever to reach 3 billion views and kickstarting the trend of videos crossing multiple billion-view thresholds.
According to an average estimated and published recently by Information Is Beautiful, YouTube may pay as little as $0.0006 for every view, which adds up to only $1.8 million for 3 billion plays.
The #1 most viewed video on YouTube is "Baby Shark Dance" by Pinkfong, with over 15 billion views, far surpassing other popular videos like "Despacito" and "Wheels on the Bus," with the top videos consistently being children's songs and music videos.
The Minecraft community has crushed one trillion views on YouTube. Celebrate this huge milestone with a look back at some of the biggest moments in Minecraft history.
“Gangnam Style” by South Korean musician PSY became the first YouTube video to reach 1 billion views. By the end of 2012, the song had topped music charts in more than 30 countries around the world. #song4theweekend #PSY #GangnamStyle #musichistory #music.
100 Million YouTube Subscribers was first achieved by Pewdiepie, one of YouTube's most legendary creators, and then by T-Series, a media company based in India.
The #1 YouTuber in the world by subscriber count is MrBeast (Jimmy Donaldson), holding the top spot as an individual creator with over 450 million subscribers, surpassing the music label T-Series, which is the most-subscribed overall channel when including companies like T-Series, Cocomelon, and SET India. He's known for large-scale stunts, cash giveaways, and philanthropy, becoming the biggest individual personality on the platform in recent years.
1 billion YouTube views can earn anywhere from a few thousand dollars (for Shorts) to several million (for long-form videos), with estimates often falling between $250,000 and $5 million, heavily depending on the Cost Per Mille (CPM) and viewer engagement, with gaming/music potentially earning $0.50-$1/1000 views and high-engagement content seeing higher rates. The wide range is due to factors like viewer location, ad types, video niche, and if it's a YouTube Short (which pays much less) versus longer content.
TL;DR: MrBeast is the most-subscribed YouTube channel in 2026, while T-Series is the most-viewed channel. Other popular channels include Cocomelon, SET India, and Kids Diana Show.
To make $2,000 a month on YouTube from ad revenue, you generally need 400,000 to 1 million monthly views, depending heavily on your niche's CPM (cost per mille/thousand views) and RPM (revenue per mille), but many creators report needing 500,000 to 1 million+ views for a comfortable living, with high-value niches like finance potentially reaching it with fewer views and lower-value niches needing significantly more, plus other income streams like sponsorships.
Reaching 1 billion views on YouTube is a monumental achievement, but it's not impossible. By understanding the YouTube algorithm, crafting killer content, optimizing for search, promoting your videos, and analyzing your results, you can increase your chances of joining the billion-view club.
TikTok pays creators between $0.02 and $0.04 per 1,000 views, which comes from the Creator Fund. This means that one million views could generate between $20 and $40. However, the actual payout can vary depending on TikTok's metrics and other factors such as engagement and audience retention.
The #1 richest YouTuber in the world is MrBeast (Jimmy Donaldson), consistently topping lists with an estimated net worth often cited over $500 million, potentially reaching $1 billion, driven by viral content, massive giveaways, and successful business ventures like Feastables and MrBeast Burger, making him the highest-earning creator globally.
The "30-second rule" on YouTube refers to the critical first moments of a video, where creators must hook viewers within about 30 seconds to get them to keep watching, as YouTube registers meaningful engagement after this mark, impacting visibility and watch time. It's a key focus for audience retention, with strategies involving dynamic editing (B-roll, angles), emotional hooks, and clear value propositions, but it's distinct from copyright myths about using 30-second music clips.
Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee's “Despacito” video has established a new record. The clip reached 5 billion views on YouTube, making it the most watched video worldwide.
If each of those one trillion views were just one second long, that would add up to over 30,000 years. If each view were a Minecraft block 12 inches square, you could build a stack that reached from the Earth to the sun and back -- with about seven million miles to spare. That's how big one trillion views is.
To make $10,000 on YouTube, you typically need between 1 million to 10 million views per month, depending heavily on your niche (finance/tech pays more), viewer location (US/UK/Canada pays more), and monetization strategies, as ad revenue varies from $2-$12 per 1,000 views (RPM), but sponsors and affiliate sales can get you there faster with fewer raw views.
Taking the title of the richest social media content creator is MrBeast, who boasts some 634 million followers. MrBeast rose to prominence as a YouTuber, with his viral videos featuring large-scale stunts, challenges and extravagant cash giveaways, and are known for their high production value.
The first "YouTuber" was Jawed Karim, one of YouTube's co-founders, who uploaded the platform's first video, "Me at the zoo," on April 23, 2005, making him the first person to post content on the site, which marked the beginning of user-generated video sharing.
He began posting videos to YouTube in early 2012 under the handle MrBeast6000. His early uploads ranged from Let's Play videos to estimations of other YouTubers' wealth. In 2017, after his video "I Counted to 100,000!" drew tens of thousands of views within days, his productions quickly became more extravagant.
MrBeast recently celebrated reaching 100 million subscribers, prompting a reflection on his first subscriber, Roggan Minoggan, who subscribed in 2011. Minoggan created his YouTube account in 2006 and was the first to support MrBeast's initial channel, Beast5YT.
MrBeast (Jimmy Donaldson) got rich by pioneering a business model that reinvests YouTube earnings into ever-larger videos, funded by massive sponsorship deals, ad revenue, and diversifying into successful ventures like his Feastables snack brand, MrBeast Burger, and merchandise, creating a powerful content and brand empire built on high-engagement, high-production stunts and philanthropy. His wealth comes not just from YouTube ads, but from strategic business expansion and brand partnerships, all fueled by his massive audience's attention.